The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for a plug and play registration system for each sensor product serial number and DIP switch number in a polling loop system, and more particularly pertains to a new Vplex polling loop system wherein all Vplex sensor products on the Vplex polling loop are pre-wired by technically unskilled labor, followed by a truly plug and play enrollment process for each sensor product serial number and DIP switch number. The system combines the advantages of DIP switch zone addressing with the advantages of smart serial number (S/N) addressing to simplify installation and replacement requirements. The system is fully backward compatible and is intended for the next generation of commercial Vplex systems.
Present commercial polling systems in the security systems market use either DIP switches alone, or random serial numbers alone, to uniquely address each of a variety of sensors in protected areas, or zones, of the system. None of the known systems, using either addressing method alone, solves a long desired goal of installing and prewiring all of the sensors in the system by technically unskilled labor, and subsequently enrolling data on each sensor automatically into the database of an associated commercial control. The present invention accomplishes that goal for the first time by providing sensors which employ both DIP switches and specially-configured serial numbers for each sensor in combination with unique polling protocols.
Some present commercial security systems use sensors made with a family of ASICs, and employ a tri-level baseband polling system (named xe2x80x9cVplexxe2x80x9d) which includes a feature described as global polling with contention-based address identification, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,515. The ASIC specification includes a variety of new and backward-compatible polling protocols. Among the new protocols are those providing for Plug and Play (PnP) serial number (S/N) addressing, 8-bit alias zone addressing, group supervision polling, and protective loop diagnostics. The later two features are explained in patent application Ser. Nos. 09/861,129 and 09/996,492, respectively.
The use of in-circuit EEPROM (E2) programming in a new Vplex family of products allows a 22-bit S/N address to be sequentially assigned and controlled by the supplier of the present Vplex ASIC specifications. To facilitate the enrollment process, each Vplex product contains one or more labels revealing the S/N address in 7-digit decimal notation. These labels are printed and affixed to each product during final test and assembly in factories after reading the S/N which is prestored in the product""s ASIC.
Previous to the introduction of a prefabricated unique S/N per ASIC, Vplex products used ASICs which derived the address, or zone number, of the associated product from an 8-position DIP switch located physically on each product which could physically accommodate the DIP switch. Smaller products, which could not physically accommodate an 8-position DIP switch, utilized a special ASIC with 8 programmable bits of E2. A hand-held programmer was developed and sold to installers to enable them to program the 8-bit address into the product""s 8-bit E2.
Actual field experience reported from a variety of installers over the past several years has resulted in a better understanding of the likes and dislikes of installers regarding the use of DIP switch addressing vs the use of predetermined S/Ns with identifying address labels. Each addressing method has specific advantages and disadvantages based on the manner in which many installers prefer to install and repair the polling loop systems.
In systems using DIP switch addressing, an 8-position DIP switch is set to the system zone number (derived from a 0-255 address table contained in the product""s II). The installer must subsequently enter the system control""s programming mode via a control keypad and enter that zone number in addition to associated information such as the zone response type, partition number, report code, and input type. This additional information is required by the security control to properly process activations from that device.
In systems using the present prerecorded S/Ns, the installer must enroll the product by first entering the control""s programming mode using one of the system keypads. The required zone number is then entered followed by the same type of information listed previously for the DIP switch system. In this case, however, the enrollment process must include the addition of the unique pre-installed S/N which, at the appropriate point in the programming process, may be entered manually by keying in the 7-digit decimal address on the product""s label. Alternatively the S/N may be entered by activating the product while connected to the polling loop in order for the control to automatically read the product""s S/N via use of the Vplex global polling feature.
The keyboard entry process is subject to transcription errors and some products, such as motion, shock, and glass break detectors, must be activated in the proper manner and sequence in order for the control to recover the correct S/N for that product using the Vplex global polling feature of U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,515. This is one reason why some installation companies prefer to manually enter the product""s S/N from the 7-digit label physically affixed to each product despite the propensity of making transcription errors.
The use of DIP switches for establishing the zone number simplifies defective unit replacement since all that is required is to duplicate the defective unit""s DIP switch settings onto the DIP switch of the replacement unit. The disadvantages of DIP switch zone addressing are the cost and size of the DIP switch and the difficulty of subsequently locating duplicate addresses.
Neither the DIP switch method nor the S/N addressing method facilitates the ability of first, prewiring the complete system with unskilled labor, and secondly, completely enrolling all data via an installer-friendly procedure at the keypad.
The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for a plug and play registration system for each sensor product serial number and DIP switch number in a polling loop system, and more particularly pertains to a new Vplex polling loop system wherein all Vplex sensor products on the Vplex polling loop are prewired by technically unskilled labor, followed by a truly plug and play enrollment process. The system combines the advantages of DIP switch zone addressing with the advantages of smart serial number (S/N) addressing to simplify installation and replacement requirements. The system is fully backward compatible and is intended for the next generation of commercial Vplex systems.
The present invention also provides a new S/N group global polling protocol which, in conjunction with the use of DIP switch sensor addressing, applies the principle of global polling of U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,515 in predetermined groups of 16 sensor products, or another number, that can be electronically handled without overloading the polling loop drive circuits, independent of the number of sensors that may be connected to the loop. The end result is a true plug and play polling loop registration system not available in any other low cost, low baud rate, 2-wire, polling loop security system.